Arrow: "Broken Arrow"Review

We’ve finally reached the point where Arrow’s third season is becoming as big and dramatic as Season 2 was during the prolonged Deathstroke conflict. The previous episode showed a city turned against the Arrow, even as Oliver continued to resist Ra’s al Ghul’s increasingly persuasive arguments to become his heir. That episode culminated with Ollie turning himself into the police, only for Roy to suit up and take the fall. The stage was set for a really great follow-up this week. But while “Broken Arrow” started out strong, the resolution was surprisingly underwhelming.

Early on, the setup for “Broken Arrow” bugged me a little because of all the lapses in logic regarding why the police would cut Ollie loose and take Roy’s confession at face value. I could write several paragraphs of nitpicks, but the big one involves the first encounter between Roy and the Arrow in the Season 1 episode “Salvation.” If you recall, Roy was kidnapped and had his torture and subsequent rescue broadcast all over the Internet. Isn’t that proof enough that someone else is under the hood? Eventually I ignored those niggling questions and just went with the flow, but it does seem like this particular development could have been thought out a little more.

The good news is that this episode made up for the lack of attention paid to Roy throughout the season. He’s lately felt like third wheel among Team Arrow, with only his lingering guilt over killing the cop last season driving him. This episode allowed for some closure on that front and put Roy in the spotlight in a big way. The idea of the Arrow (well, an Arrow) locked up with the same criminals he put away is great. It basically allowed us to see how the aborted Super MAX movie might have played out on a smaller scale. The sense of dread and imminent danger was palpable in every Roy scene, as we never knew from where the next attack might arise. This resulted in one really cool fight scene as a handcuffed Roy fought off several inmates.

Colton Haynes delivered an especially strong performance this week, with the standout scene being his brief, emotional meeting with Thea. That scene only highlighted the fact that the show needs to make better use of Roy than it has. Not to be outdone, Stephen Amell was great at conveying Ollie’s internal anguish and frustration at his friend’s predicament. You can really get a sense of how well Ra’s manipulations are working.

This plotline culminated with Roy’s apparent death at the hands of an especially shank-y prison guard. Initially this development was a shock, though the fact that the scene barely lingered on Roy post-stabbing made it pretty obvious that the other shoe had yet to drop. Predictably, it was revealed shortly thereafter that Roy survived the stabbing. The reveal that the rest of team Arrow cooked up an elaborate plot to both get Ollie off the hook and fake Roy’s death was cool. The exit scene for Roy? Less so.

Everyone was feeling the grind this week.

It was disappointing to see Roy ride off into the sunset. Apparently spending a couple nights in jail was enough to assuage his guilt about that whole cop killing thing. There would have been real potential in drawing out his incarceration for a while and milking the Super MAX element. Instead, he seems to be all but written out of the show now. The whole development felt rushed and unnecessary. Apparently Colton Haynes still has one more episode to appear in this season, so hopefully we’ll get some idea of what the future holds for Roy. Maybe he’ll join the ranks of the mystery spinoff?

Aside from Roy’s brief prison detour, the big news this week was the first team-up between the Arrow and the Atom. Between the fact that the cops were watching his every move and that Starling’s latest villain was of the metahuman variety, Ollie had little choice but to pass the torch to Ray. That makes this the second big superhero team-up of the week for this fledgling hero. Not a bad track record so far.

It was great to see Ray once again integrated into the storyline rather than seeming like a peripheral character. His bubbly personality is practically all this show has to bring some levity to all the drama and tension. That personality plays well with Ollie’s grumpiness. The “high five” scene alone made this pairing worth watching. That brief Ray/Cisco scene near the end was a nice bonus. Those two are a hoot.

I was more underwhelmed by the outcome of this team-up, however. The whole idea was that the Atom can compete with metahuman villains in a way the Arrow can’t. And yet, the final showdown between Atom and Deathbolt was basically a glorified boxing match. There was nothing dynamic or exciting about that fight. And it was too bad, because Doug Jones had a captivating presence in his limited screen time as Deathbolt. The writers didn’t bother to flesh out Deathbolt beyond “He robs banks,” but Jones’ body language and creep stare really gave the villain an inhuman vibe. It was also intriguing to learn that the character didn’t receive his powers from the particle accelerator explosion like most of the metahumans we’ve seen in Flash/Arrow. There’s another catalyst out there. Perhaps that’s an important seed being planted for the spinoff show?

The unceremonious goodbye to Roy and the underwhelming Atom/Deathbolt showdown were the main two reasons why this episode lost its steam towards the end. The flashbacks didn’t really help either, as that subplot is still struggling to build momentum again. For all the darkness that loomed over Team Arrow at the beginning of the episode, it seemed like they were let off too easy in the end. The question is how the final twist will change things. Thea has been stabbed by Ra’s, much in the same way her mother was murdered by Slade a year ago. This could be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back for Ollie. Or it could be another bump in the road that a Lazarus Pit can repair. We already know that Ra’s isn’t the greatest at stabbing people so that they stay dead. Whatever does transpire next week, it’s past time for this season to hit climax mode and make it clear what impossible challenge Team Arrow faces.

The Verdict

Ignoring the logical inconsistencies, this episode started off with a great premise as it explored Roy's life behind bars and the first major team-up between the Arrow and the Atom. But while there were plenty of great moments both comedic and dramatic, "Broken Arrow" lost some steam by the end. The show lost tension even as it should be growing darker. Hopefully the latest big twist will help things get back on track.